Chapter 111

Mei'er, the miasma is thick, hold your breath. Wang Shan reminded, while he himself also circulated his meager Spiritual Power to shield his mouth and nose.

They had already advanced two days deeper into the Man Yun Mountain Range. Here the trees grew ever taller and ancient, blocking out the sky, the forest light dim, the air filled with a strange odor of rotting vegetation mixed with an unknown toxic miasma.

Li Hu curled his lips and complained in a gruff voice: "Hss... Brother Wang, this ghostly place, why does it feel even more sinister than near that cave before? Even the trees grow in weird shapes, like ghost claws. Do you really think we can find anything good here?"

Zhang Mei tugged at Li Hu's sleeve and said softly: "Brother, don't talk nonsense. Brother Wang surely has his reasons." She herself also felt uneasy; the environment made her instinctively sense danger.

Wang Shan glanced around, his tone calm: "Only in such a place could there possibly be hidden ancient spiritual herbs, or... stronger beasts with more Spirit Plant Points. Our previous accumulation has been too slow; if we want to achieve Foundation Establishment and take on the Wan family, we must take some risks."

He knew clearly that in the system Mall, which good thing doesn't require a large amount of Spirit Plant Points? Relying only on scavenging the outskirts would take ages to accumulate enough.

Just then, Wang Shan's steps halted, his eyes suddenly sharpening, and he sharply raised his hand: "Stop! Something's coming!"

Swish—swish—swish—

The forest vegetation swayed, and several swift-as-wind shadows shot out from different directions, instantly surrounding the three.

"Holy shit! What the hell is that?!" Li Hu yelled, instinctively gripping the crude spear in his hand, which he had made from sharpened hardwood.

Appearing before them were five sturdy blue-black giant wolves. These wolves differed from ordinary wild wolves: not only were they a size larger, their fur faintly gleamed with a metallic sheen, their eyes flashed with a bloody red light, their fangs bared, saliva dripping, exuding a terrifying ferocity.

"Swiftwind Wolf! Second-Order Mutant Beast!" Wang Shan's voice carried a hint of gravity: "Five in total. They... bear Wan Tianjue's Divine Sense Imprint!"

He clearly sensed that on each Swiftwind Wolf's forehead there was a faint but unusually distinct Spiritual Sense fluctuation, identical to Wan Tianjue's aura.

"Wan Tianjue's bastard spawn?!" Li Hu's eyes widened, both shocked and angry: "Damn it, that old thing really is a persistent ghost! He even sends dogs this far!"

Zhang Mei's face turned slightly pale as she pressed close to Li Hu, feeling the immense pressure emanating from these Swiftwind Wolves, far beyond that of the Iron Claw Rabbits they had encountered before. These are five Second-Order Mutant Beasts, and they appear well-coordinated and trained.

Wang Shan's thoughts raced: "It seems Wan Tianjue can not only roughly lock onto our position, but also use these beasts for more precise tracking and probing. He intends to use these creatures to drain our strength, or force us to reveal more of our trump cards."

Awoo—

The largest, darkest-furred Swiftwind Wolf King lifted its head and let out a roar, its blood-red eyes locked onto Wang Shan, then its limbs exploded with force like an arrow released from a bow, lunging straight at him! The other four Swiftwind Wolves also moved simultaneously, forming a seamless encirclement from the left, right, and rear.

"Brother Wang, be careful!" Li Hu shouted, raising his spear to rush forward and help.

"Don't move recklessly! Protect Mei'er!" Wang Shan growled low, sidestepping narrowly to avoid the Wolf King's deadly pounce. The wolf's claw whipped past his cheek, leaving a shallow scratch.

These Swiftwind Wolves are too fast, their attacks too fierce!

Li Hu and Zhang Mei stood back-to-back, nervously fending off the two Swiftwind Wolves attacking from the flanks. Although they had improved somewhat under Wang Shan's guidance, facing beasts of this level and number was still their first time, and for a moment they were flustered, danger lurking at every turn.

"Brother, they're too fast!" Zhang Mei's voice trembled slightly.

"Hold firm! Don't let them scatter!" Li Hu gritted his teeth, waving his spear wildly, barely managing to repel one Swiftwind Wolf that tried to bite his calf.

Just as Wang Shan was about to resort to his trump card to contend with the Wolf King, a system alert suddenly sounded in his mind:

【High-intensity energy warning! The target beast's monster soul and external Divine Sense Imprint are deeply resonating; conventional physical killing may not fully erase the tracking marker, and could feed battle information back to the one who placed the imprint.】

Wang Shan's heart sank.

"Damn, I knew it wouldn't be that simple!" he cursed inwardly. This Wan Tianjue, his methods are truly vicious! Killing these wolves wouldn't just fail to shake off the tracking; it would also expose our fighting style and depth of strength. If we don't kill them, they'll cling to us like a bone-deep maggot.

"We must find a way to sever this connection, or... let Wan Tianjue receive false information." Wang Shan rapidly calculated in his mind.

He glanced around and noticed a narrow, steep fissure in the stone wall not far away, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

"Got it!"

"Li Hu, Mei'er, retreat to that fissure! Quick!" Wang Shan shouted while desperately dodging another frenzied assault from the Wolf King.

The Wolf King seemed to see through his intention, its assault growing even more frenzied, while the remaining Swiftwind Wolves also intensified their attacks, trying to prevent them from reaching the fissure.

Wang Shan's nostrils flared slightly; from these Swiftwind Wolves he caught a faint, not yet fully dissipated scent of blood. It wasn't theirs, but rather... that of other cultivators?

"These beasts must have recently hunted other people; their ferocity is at its peak, and they crave cultivators' flesh and blood." This discovery made Wang Shan feel even heavier.

"Brother Wang, I can't get past! This wolf pup's gone mad!" Li Hu was forced back repeatedly by a Swiftwind Wolf, his arms raked with several bloody gashes.

"Use talismans!" Wang Shan roared, "Don't hold back!"

Li Hu snapped to awareness, hastily pulling out the Tier 1 Fireball Talisman Wang Shan had given him earlier, not bothering to aim, and hurled it straight at the Swiftwind Wolf before him.

Bang!

The fireball exploded, the Swiftwind Wolf yelped in agony, a patch of its fur scorched; in pain, its attack eased slightly.

Seizing the chance, Wang Shan ducked low, sliding beneath the Wolf King's belly, and at some point a Fine Steel Dagger from the system exchange appeared in his hand, which he drove hard into the Wolf King's soft underside.

Awoo—

The Wolf King let out a piercing wail, blood gushing from its belly, its assault stalling.

"Go!" Wang Shan grabbed Zhang Mei with one hand and Li Hu with the other, and the three scrambled toward the fissure.